Is God a Moral Monster?

There has been an enthusiastic rise in secular atheism and its attacks on the God of the Bible. Rather than listening to many of these ex-evangelicals and post-Christians, we have either ignored them or wrote them off as people who don't know what they are talking about. Atheists are simply blind or stupid in their rejection of God. The sad reality is much of what they say is making sense to many young people because the evil and ugly God of the Bible, rather than being repudiated is often affirmed in different ways by Christians.

For example, God likes killing people and is evil in his killing of so many innocent people, especially women and children. Christians often respond that God is God and can kill anyone God wants to because God is God. As humans, we can't kill anyone we want to but God can. As humans and as Christians, we are supposed to love our enemies while God can hate or destroy His enemies. Even worse, our view of the end of the world says God wins in the end where he destroys the earth and saves a few people while condemning the rest of humanity and his good earth to an eternal fiery end of destruction. Is this the really the good news of the gospel?  If the gospel is good news, maybe we need a more beautiful gospel?

Our western culture has been shaped with so many myths like the myth of redemptive violence or our God is a God of peace and war, love and terrible wrath and judgment. What we don't recognize is the many nuances of the Bible where the cosmic evil powers often destroy people lives rather than God.  God is not inflicting the violence but withholds his mercy back while the destructive forces of evil and sin do their devastating work. Warfare language in the Newer Testament is usually spiritual warfare and God's prophets, as well as Jesus tells people to lay down their physical weapons. There is wrath and judgment in the bible but they are wrapped in God's love nature and not some kind of vindictive punisher model where God wants his pound of flesh for every infringement against him.

Can we stop reading the Bible like we did in elementary school? Can we stop reading the Bible like it's a flat book or only has one dimension too it, the literal surface level? I believe the Bible is more powerful and beautiful than the critics say it is and the gospel is more beautiful than most Christians have ever dared to dream.